Outside an art museum in Topeka, Kansas, some kids are playing happily in what looks like a large Hobbit House while others are walking through the house's woven (编织) archway into a twisted twig (嫩枝) tower. The tower, made entirely of sticks, is a sculpture built by Dougherty.
Dougherty has created more than 200 stick sculptures all over the world. “I design my sculptures to look like they've always been there,” he says. And he likes people to get involved in his work. If they arrive during the three weeks he takes to build a sculpture, he lets them build, too. “ I want my work to help people enjoy nature.”
As a child, Dougherty learned to love nature while traveling through the woods. He would spend hours bending sticks into shelters for his brothers and sisters. When he grew up, he majored in art and learnt to make sculptures with clay. But it was too heavy to make the lines and shapes he imagined.
One day, he watched thin, young trees waving in the wind. They reminded him of the sticks he built shelters with as a boy. Soon after, he began his first creation made out of sticks.
To begin a sculpture, Dougherty digs holes and buries tall young trees in the ground for support. Then he weaves (编织) smaller sticks around them. He uses strings to hold and bend the twigs while he's weaving. When he removes the string, the sticks stay in place. It usually takes four tons of sticks to build a sculpture, and Dougherty chooses materials that would otherwise be wasted.
Dougherty's sculptures last two to four years. But even after that, they serve a purpose. The wood is cut up into tiny pieces called mulch (覆盖料), which makes soil rich and helps new plants grow after it breaks down.
1. The description of kids playing in Paragraph 1 functions as ________| A．a brief introduction to the museum. |
| B．a vivid lead into the sculptor. |
| C．a lively advertisement of artistic work. |
| D．a clear display of the architecture. |
| A．He would like to invite visitors to build sculptures with him. |
| B．He likes using twigs to change the sticks before weaving them. |
| C．He is likely to waste tons of sticks and other materials. |
| D．He is devoted to the construction of all kinds of sculptures. |
| A．Sculpture. |
| B．Wood. |
| C．Soil. |
| D．Mulch. |
| A．Bending sticks into sculptures. |
| B．A friendly companion. |
| C．Protecting the environment. |
| D．A natural art museum. |
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【推荐1】A raffle ticket(抽彩奖券) to win a new 1959 Chevrolet; credit cards with no magnetic strip; family photos in black and white: All hidden behind a bathroom wall in the Plaza Theatre, untouched for decades.
Until 65 years later, when contractors discovered a hidden space behind a broken wall in the bathroom during renovations. Under a mountain of dust, in what used to be a closet, lay a faded red wallet, frozen in time.
From there, Plaza Theatre owner Chris Escobar said he was determined to return the wallet to the family. “It was a portal(正门) back in time,” he said.
That owner was one Floy Culbreth, according to a license inside the wallet. But Escobar ran into his first problem—women were often referred to by their husband’s name at that time, so searching Culbreth’s name yielded few results.
Escobar recruited his wife Nicole, who he calls an “internet sleuth,” to track down the owner of the wallet. She was able to find Roy Culbreth’s obituary(讣告)—Floy’s husband. Through tracing the Culbreth bloodline, Escobar discovered Thea Chamberlain via the Culbreth Cup, a family-run charity golf event. Now 71, Thea recalled her mother’s active community role, including. Sunday school teaching, garden club involvement, and charitable work for cerebral palsy.
The Culbreth family’s gathering at the Plaza Theatre in November to reclaim the wallet was a touching scene. The moment was especially significant for Chamberlain’s young grandchildren. As they explored the contents, they grasped the importance of this family artifact, realizing they were part of a special legacy.
1. What do we know about the wallet?| A．It was brand new and unused. | B．It contained modern credit cards. |
| C．It was found in the theater’s lobby. | D．It had a license belonging to Floy Culbreth. |
| A．Women had no status in society. |
| B．Damaged wallet contents were unreadable. |
| C．Tracing the owner was tough due to naming norms. |
| D．He couldn’t access the theater due to renovation work. |
| A．Artist. | B．Engineer. | C．Historian. | D．Detective. |
| A．It held family historical value. | B．It was a valuable item she had lost. |
| C．It contained photos of her childhood. | D．It contained an important family secret. |
【推荐2】I’ll be the first to admit that I am a technophobe(对技术有恐惧感的人). Who would have guessed that a website would help repay a 20-year-old loan?
I’ll always remember my last day at school. My best friend, Jenny, had organized a party in the Sixth Form Common Room.
Jenny asked me to go to the supermarket with her to buy all the snacks. “I'm really looking forward to this party, Stingy," she said. Everyone called me Stingy instead of Debbie because they thought I didn’t like to spend money. Actually, it was true.
“There’s lots of money in the kitty. Let’s go crazy!” Going crazy meant buying enough snacks to feed an army. It came to ￡19.90, which was a lot of money in 1982.
Jenny gave me a guilty(内疚的) look. “I've left-the kitty money in the common room. Can you pay and I’ll give you back the money?”
“Sure,” I replied, trying to look relaxed. “Neither a lender or a borrower be” was my motto(座右铭) but I didn’t want to look stingy. I gave ￡20 to the impatient shop assistant.
Well, the Party was a great success. So great that I completely forgot about my loan until I was flying to America the next day. I was going to live with my uncle’s family until I started university.
I tried to get in touch with Jenny but her family had moved. My ￡20 was lost. Until...
I’d heard about a website called Friends Reunited which helped people contact old school friends. My husband helped me log on and find my school. There she was, Jenny Frost.
I’m now married with a beautiful daughter called Debbie. Does anyone know how to get in touch with Debbie “Stingy” Jones? I still owe her ￡20!
We met two months later and the ￡20 was returned, plus interest(利息) of course. After all, I’m a bank manager now, so loans are my business.
1. Everyone called the author Stingy because they thought .| A．she was poor |
| B．she was mean |
| C．she was lovely |
| D．she was friendly |
| A．Because Jenny lost her money. |
| B．Because Jenny never borrowed money from her. |
| C．Because Stingy had a lot of money in the kitty. |
| D．Because Stingy wanted to be generous with her friend. |
| A．The next day. | B．At the last day at school. |
| C．Two months later. | D．About 20 years later. |
| A．Neither a lender or a borrower be. |
| B．Always be a “Stingy”. |
| C．Friends and Money Reunited. |
| D．A loan has to be paid back. |
【推荐3】Finally, in March of 1703, the Adventure set sail for India. The winds were good until we got near Madagascar, an island off the east coast of Africa. Then a strong wind began to blow. We were trapped in the wind for twenty days. After many hours, the wind finally stopped and the sea became quieter. The storm had blown the Adventure hundreds of kilometers to the east.
“Where are we?” I asked the captain.
“I can’t tell for sure.” He said, “we are running out of water. We must reach land soon to fill our water barrels (桶).” Many days passed and we saw nothing but the sea. One morning, before everyone died of thirst, a sailor cried out, “Land!” Everyone on the ship was silent for a second. And quickly the ship sailed closer to the land. The sailors suddenly became turnultuous and all cheered.
“You men,” said the captain to the sailors, “take the rowboats and go. Fill the water barrels with fresh water.”
“Captain,” I said, “may I go with them to take a look at this place?”
“Of course,” he replied. “You can tell me later what it is like.”
When the rowboats reached the coast, one of the sailors said, “we will have to walk along the coast to look for fresh water.”
“I’m going to take a little walk,” I told them. “I will meet you back here in an hour.”
I walked about a kilometer, enjoying being on land again. Then I turned and walked back to meet the sailors.
When I arrived on the beach, the sailors were not there. They were in the rowboats, rowing as fast as they could toward the Adventure. I was going to shout out to them when I saw a very huge man walking through the sea. I was trying to catch up with the rowboats. The sailors were almost at the ship, and I could see that the huge man would not be able to catch them. Instead, it was coming towards me. Great fear went through my mind.
1. What happened when they got near the east coast of Africa?| A．They decided to set sail for India. | B．The captain lost his sense of direction. |
| C．A storm came and blew the ship heavily. | D．The captain couldn’t tell where they were. |
| A．sad | B．excited | C．bored | D．relaxed |
| A．Because he planned to help get fresh water for everyone. |
| B．Because he got tired of travelling and decided to live on the land. |
| C．Because he wanted to take a walk and look around. |
| D．Because he was looking for the huge man on the land. |
| A．The writer saw the sailors were caught by the huge man. |
| B．The sailors failed to get on the ship because it was too far away |
| C．The writer tried to run away as fast as possible. |
| D．The huge man caught the captain and controlled the ship. |
【推荐1】Yu Yi, Honorary President of Shanghai Yangpu Senior High School, is among the first generation of Chinese teachers after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Yu was born in 1929, not long before Japan invaded (侵略) China. Her road to education was very difficult. During the war, Yu studied in many schools before she was admitted to Zhenjiang High School.
In 1947, Yu was admitted to the Department of Education of Fudan University in Shanghai. In 1951, as she was about to become a teacher, Yu decided to tie her future to the motherland.
As a Chinese teacher, Yu has been thinking about how to teach every class well. Rather than follow the traditional teaching method, in which teachers keep speaking while students just listen, Yu used a different one. She had her students read revolutionary (革命) books, which put the “red gene (基因)” in their blood and helped them set higher goals. In her view, Chinese classes not only teach children to use the language, they also shape children’s souls. For decades, Yu has devoted herself to her work. She has also written many books on teaching.
“I have said I will be a teacher for the rest of my life, and I will also learn to be a teacher for the rest of my life, which is by no means empty talk. I have been learning all my life, constantly improving and perfecting my personality. I keep thinking about how many lessons I have given and how many are really taught to students,” Yu says.
1. Which of the following orders is right about Yu’s experiences?①She became the honorary president of Shanghai Yangpu Senior High School.
②She went to the Department of Education of Fudan University.
③She decided to connect her future with her country.
④She attended Zhenjiang High School after studying in many schools.
| A．④②①③ | B．④②③① | C．②③④① | D．②④③① |
| A．They should just learn more about Chinese history. |
| B．They should only learn and use revolutionary works. |
| C．They should speak Chinese and listen to teachers more. |
| D．They should have their souls shaped besides using Chinese. |
| A．She finds it not easy to work as a teacher. |
| B．She decides to devote herself to teaching. |
| C．She has written a lot of books on teaching. |
| D．She is fond of commenting on others' lessons. |
| A．Creative and learned. | B．Wise but selfish. |
| C．Caring and forgiving. | D．Energetic but careless. |
【推荐2】China's Most Mysterious Internet Celebrity
Her life looks like one straight out of a fairy tale. Li Ziqi impresses millions with her videos, where she makes seemingly everything from scratch with her own two hands, from dying a dress with fresh grape juice to fashioning traditional lipstick from roses in her garden.
To find Li, we had to travel to rural Sichuan Province in southwestern China, where she grew up. Li grew up with her grandparents here. She says she came to live with them after her stepmother mistreated her. But they were poor, so when she turned 14, Li went to work in the city. In 2012, she decided to return to the countryside to take care of her grandmother.
Four years later, she started filming her life there. The dishes she prepares range from a single condiment（调味料）to make multi-course meals. But whatever she makes, she leaves no stone unturned, going as far as raising baby ducklings just to make a sauce out of salted duck eggs. Some joke that she's brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "from scratch."
Some of her other recipes are wholly original. In one video, she uses magnolia flowers to make pastries and even deep-fries the flowers themselves. Apart from food, she's also known for her videos demonstrating traditional crafts, like building this bamboo furniture set, which she says was inspired by one of her grandfather's old benches. Li's stylized depictions of rural life stand out in China's competitive field of online videos. But some viewers have been skeptical of her saying that she started as a one-woman band. Two years ago, Li posted a behind-the-scenes video to disprove those claims.
Li says she now works with one videographer and one assistant, but she's still the one calling the shots. We weren't able to confirm these claims because we were not allowed to observe Li filming. But today, three years after she first picked up the camera, Li is one of China's most successful online video makers.
1. What does the author suggest by mentioning "raising baby ducklings just to make sauce out of salted duck eggs" in paragraph3?| A．Li Ziqi is fond of raising ducks. |
| B．Li Ziqi is a person with great determination to accomplish things perfectly. |
| C．Li Ziqi uses everything like duck to film her life. |
| D．Li Ziqi's life is a bit difficult for lack of parents' support. |
| A．To attract more viewers. | B．To prove her originality. |
| C．To show the process of her scratch. | D．To make more profit. |
| A．critical | B．disapproval | C．supportive | D．subjective |
【推荐3】The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor, for advancing the world’s understanding of women’s progress in the work force. She is the third woman to have won the Economics Nobel, which was first awarded in 1969, and the first one to be honored with it solo rather than sharing in the prize.
Dr. Goldin, 77, was the first woman to be offered tenure (终身职位) in Harvard’s economics department in 1989. Dr. Goldin’s research on female employment and the gender wage gap over the past 200 years showed that employment among married women decreased in the 1800s, as the economy moved away from agriculture and toward industry. Women’s participation then increased in the 1900s, as the service industry began to expand as a part of the economy. Dr. Goldin has described the 1970s in particular as a “revolutionary” period when women in the US began to marry later, pursue higher education, and make major progress in the labor market.
Dr. Goldin has also illustrated how the process of closing the gender wage gap has been uneven over the course of history. In the past, gender wage gaps could be explained by education and occupation. But Dr. Goldin has shown that most of the earnings difference is now in the same jobs. Notably, it kicks in after the birth of a woman’s first child. Goldin and her colleagues once found the gap in pay started to widen a year or two after a woman had her first baby.
She hoped people would learn from her work how important long-term changes are for understanding the labor market. “We’re never going to have gender equality until we also have couple equality, ” she said. While there has been “monumental progressive change, at the same time there are important differences” which often tie back to women doing more work in the home.
1. What can be learned about Dr. Goldin in the passage?| A．She set out to research female employment in 1989. |
| B．She is the first woman to receive the prize alone. |
| C．She redefined women’s role in employment in the 1970s. |
| D．She is devoted to inspiring women to step outside to work. |
| A．Because the economy depended more on industry. |
| B．Because men wanted to obtain higher education then. |
| C．Because women were not eager for marriage at the time. |
| D．Because the service industry offered more opportunities. |
| A．Regular. | B．Promising. | C．Tough. | D．Unchanging. |
| A．Women should be judged by their education. |
| B．Couple equality should be a goal to work for. |
| C．Gender wage gaps should be addressed soon. |
| D．Men would take on all the housework at home. |
